‘Nab’, a 300m3 capacity self propelled split hopper barge, is currently on charter to Land & Water Services and working towards the completion of a major maintenance dredging operation for Island Harbour Marina on the Isle of Wight’s River Medina. Work is tidally restricted, with loading only possible on the high water thanks to Nab’s shallow draft of approximately 1m. The dredged material is being taken to the disposal ground which gave the vessel its name.

Nab’s sister ship ‘Needles’ is just returning to the UK from charter to French marine construction company EMCC. The vessel has successfully completed two maintenance dredging operations. The first was in L’Aber Wrac’h, near Brest in north west France and the second was on the River Loire near Nantes, where Needles was disposing of material dredged from the seaward entrance to the Arcelor steel yard.

Other Jenkins Marine vessels have also been keeping busy, with the 30m by 9m pontoon ‘Doreen Dorward’ recently completing pipeline extension works for Visser & Smit Hanab at Ashlett Creek near Southampton. Dredging was completed prior to the installation of a new puipeline using WM Plant Hire’s 45 ton, 22m long reach excavator on deck.

The Damen Multicat ‘Buffalo’ has also been on charter for another Southern Water project in the Southampton area, where a team of specialist divers have deployed jet blasting equipment to clear a blocked surface water outfall.

Jenkins Marine’s order book includes long term contracts which have been secured with marine civil engineering and construction companies Edmund Nuttall and Carillion as well as with the luxury motor yacht manufacturers Sunseeker International.